'So embarrassing' - Newcastle players had open top bus parade in 1999 despite losing FA Cup final

The Magpies will be taking part in their first final since 1999 on Sunday when they face Manchester United in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley.

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An open-top bus parade has been planned - but only if they return to Tyneside with the trophy - but silverware has not always been necessary for Newcastle to do this.

In 1999, Ruud Gullit led the Toon to the FA Cup final with legends including Alan Shearer, Gary Speed and Nolberto Solano in the squad.

But United proved too strong and goals from Teddy Sheringham and Paul Scholes saw the trophy head back to Old Trafford - one of three as Sir Alex Ferguson won that year in an unprecedented Treble that included the Premier League and Champions League.

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For most runners-up, that would be game over.

Not Newcastle, though, who decided they wanted to throw a party with an open-top bus parade through the streets of the city - without a trophy.

It might seem bizarre to many but not to the people of this football-mad city, who lined up in their thousands in a sea of black and white to see their heroes.

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The scenes were overwhelming, supporters climbing up onto rooftops, standing on cars, hanging off lamp posts, all cheering on a team of players that ultimately returned home with nothing to show.

And they did this not once, but twice in a row, having done the same the year before in 1998 after losing to Arsenal in the FA Cup final.

However, club legend Shearer now looks back at it with regret.

He told Match of the Day's Top 10 podcast: "We did open-top bus parades after being beaten twice in the cup finals which make you think… how f***ing stupid is this?

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"It just shows how desperate the Newcastle fans are for success because there was hundreds of thousands of fans."

Also appearing on the podcast was Gary Lineker, who replied: "Only in Newcastle would they all turn out."

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Shearer, who did not win a trophy in 10 years at his boyhood club, added: "Unbelievable. I mean it's absolutely outrageous.

"Hundreds of thousands of fans lining the streets. It's like, ah, it's embarrassing [to not have a trophy to show]."

Regardless, many Newcastle fans who were there look back at the open-top bus parades with plenty of good memories and the club have made it something of a tradition.

They threw a bus parade after losing to Arsenal in the 1998 FA Cup final and in the 1970s when Liverpool beat them to the FA Cup in '74 and Man City won the League Cup in '76 at their expenses.

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After the '74 heartache, a bus that read 'Well done the lads' carried Malcolm Macdonald, Bobby Moncur and Willie McFaul past a mass of Geordies.

You have to go back to 1955 to actually see Newcastle win a trophy when they beat Manchester City in the FA Cup final.

It might be no surprise, then, to see the club celebrate coming close to winning silverware - but imagine the pandemonium if they actually do win the Carabao Cup on Sunday… Sunderland residents will have to sleep with earplugs that night.

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Alas, the new owners at St. James' Park have insisted they will not host an open-top bus parade this year if they lose after heeding Shearer's advice.

Eddie Howe could become the first Toon manager since Doug Livingstone to lift a trophy with the club by beating United on Sunday at Wembley, with all the coverage here on talkSPORT.

It has been a steep upward trajectory for Newcastle over the past 18 months, so expect more bus parades - beginning on Sunday evening perhaps.